The Harpurhey Wesleyan Methodist society was formed in 1821 in a school-chapel in Green Mount Street (re-named Sharston Street). In 1849 a new chapel was opened in Rochdale Road, on the corner of Green Mount Street, and the old building continued to be used as a Sunday school. A new school building was opened in 1877 on a site, at the corner of Rochdale Road and Beech Mount, which was large enough to accommodate the construction of a new church, opened in 1884. In time larger school premises were needed and a new school building was subsequently opened on Beech Mount in 1892.